
With sought-after producer Mutt Lange cracking the whip, Def Leppard transitioned from plucky NWOBHM up-and-comers to genuine big-league challengers with their second album, 1981’s High ‘n’ Dry. The surging Let It Go, the taut Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes) and the tough ballad Bringin’ On The Heartbreak all pointed towards the band’s subsequent mega-success. But the whole album was full of songs like You Got Me Runnin’ and Lady Strange which inexplicably remain deep cuts despite being in the top-tier of the band’s discography. Although it wouldn’t be the album to catapult the Leps to fame, High ‘n’ Dry is the most consistently and credibly hard-hitting record of their career: lean and mean British metal with gleaming production, anthemic harmony choruses and a slew of killer guitar riffs and heroic soloing from the album’s M.V.P.s Steve Clark and Pete Willis.

This is the period in Def Lep’s history I like the most.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wicked write up as you nailed all the main points. Clark and Willis were such a great one two punch…
Such a killer album
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Deke!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Whatever happened to those lovable scamps pictured above?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The only thing that matters is that they went on to write Make Love Like A Man.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The apex of all human culture, believe the Nobel committee called it.
LikeLiked by 1 person